GodReflection: God Enters the World as Man

The advent of God is clothed in mystery.

Clues abound. Complete understanding eludes.

I am not sure what God looked like when He visited with Adam and Eve in the Garden. He appeared as a man one day at Abraham’s camp and to Jacob under the stars one evening for a wrestling match.

God’s short encounters with Abraham and Jacob in human form were but a preview of the time He would actually live on earth for a season to make the Abraham-Jacob blessing promise a reality.

One of my most prized possessions is hundreds of letters and cards from my parents. Most of them penned by Mom the family scribe. Especially during my South America years, letters from home were my only tangible connection to my parents.

However, letters paled in importance with the times I could be with them in person.

When in their presence I was reassured. I could feel their care. Love penetrated conversations, food, joint recreation, television time, church attendance, car time, and even the silence as we were together under one roof.

Decedents of Adam, Eve, Abraham, and Jacob heard the stories of God for centuries. People heard of His mighty acts and promises.

God prepared to walk the earth as Mary’s child while history waited. A remnant of the faithful followed and trusted.

Then it happened.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

God put on sandals and walked the streets of city, town, and country. For God to become human in Jesus was special. In His presence, people felt loved. They enjoyed conversation. They were with him in temple worship. Together meals were rich learning experiences. Dusty road time with Jesus surely passed rapidly.

He demonstrated compassion, cried, felt hunger, anger, and had time constraints. Through it all—as fully man—he can now empathize with me in every circumstance as he was “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”

The mystery is still present. Fully God—yet fully man.

Here is my take away.

Because God entered the world as a man and lived for a time among His creation, He left me a record in the Gospels of His experiences.  I can read of Jesus in the four Gospels and come to know the Father.

He made a promise while on earth. The promise was in form of a gift. To every believer He would provide His Spirit as a resident within our bodies.

Through His Spirit within me, God still walks His earth by my side as a holy companion.

He provides me with daily light resulting from the mystery as described by Apostle John:

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

During this season of the year as I anticipate God’s final advent upon earth I can only stand in awe that He entered His earth as man so that I might come to know Him as God.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – Reflecting on God’s Final Advent into His World.

Gary@Godreflection.org